Bardehle Pagenberg

Intellectual Property / Patents, Licensing

Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwalt) & German and European Patent Attorney, Partner; Attorney-at-Law admitted to practice in Germany and New York

»As an attorney-at-law and a patent attorney I am perfectly positioned to understand both the technical and the legal issues of our clients. So I am able to outline the solution which fits them best.«

Dr. Christof Karl specializes in litigation and prosecution of patents, particularly in the technical fields of computer hardware and software. He has extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional cases in the field of telecommunications, including with regard to all aspects of patent-related anti-trust law. He also advises clients on issues of licensing, employee invention law, copyright law and Internet law.

Dr. Karl represents clients in patent infringement proceedings before the German Regional Courts and the Courts of Appeal, and in patent invalidity proceedings before the European Patent Office, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, the German Federal Patent Court, and the German Federal Court of Justice. One of the main areas of his patent prosecution practice relates to the patentability of software and other computer-implemented inventions.

His clients include leading U.S. companies in the computer, computer-network, telecommunications and financial-services sectors, a major Japanese computer game manufacturer, a world market leader in tobacco articles and e-cigarettes, as well as small and medium-sized German and international companies operating in industries relating to software, electronics, laboratory equipment, car parts, sports articles, hygiene products, and food.

With his unique multiple qualifications as an attorney-at-law licensed to practice in Germany and New York, a computer scientist, and a German and European Patent Attorney, he is able to handle both the legal and technical aspects of a case. His technical knowledge is particularly valuable in patent infringement proceedings, when the technical facts need to be precisely defined and communicated. In turn, his litigation experience and international focus allow him to draft patent claims proving to be both valid and powerful in the case of enforcement, and to give strategic advice in developing and exploiting cost-effective international patent portfolios.

2024 - today

Co-Managing Partner of the firm

2010 Partner at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG in Munich

2007–2008 Patent assessor

2003 - 2007

Trainee attorney-at-law and patent attorney at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG, Munich, Germany

2003

Attorney-at-law at Baker & McKenzie, Munich, Germany

German, English, Spanish, French

Dr. Christof Karl is a board member of AIPPI Germany.

2023

Registration as a Representative before the UPC

2011

Licensed to practice as a European Patent Attorney

2009

Licensed to practice as a German Patent Attorney

2009

Awarded Ph.D. (“Dr. iur.”) in Law, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

2009

Admitted to the New York Bar as an attorney-at-law

2007 - 2008

LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law at the George Washington University (GWU), Washington DC, USA

2002 - 2008

Ph.D. (Thesis: Scope of copyright protection for software) at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

2003 Second State Examination (bar admission exam), admitted as German attorney-at-law

2000 First State Examination (degree-level qualification)

1996 - 2000

Degree in Law at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

1996–1997 Diploma course in Computer Science at Cambridge University, UK

1994–2002 Software developer with various companies, including iXOS Software AG, jambit GmbH, Siemens Business Services; 2000–2002 Trainee at law firms in Paris, Madrid and San José, Costa Rica; ;; ; 2009 German patent attorney

1993–1999 Studied Computer Science at Munich Technical University, graduating with a “Dipl.-Inform.” degree